Microsoft may have offered to buy part of Nokia's HERE maps division

Microsoft may have offered to buy a minority stake in Nokia's HERE maps division, according to a new report. The mapping unit of the Finland-based company might also have a number of other buyout offers as well.

Bloomberg reports, via its unnamed sources, that Uber Technologies, which was previously rumored to have offered $3 billion to buy the HERE Maps division, is now teaming up with Baidu and Apax Partners in a joint offer. It adds:

"Another group, comprising China's Tencent Holdings Ltd., NavInfo Co. and Swedish buyout firm EQT Partners AB, is also bidding for the unit, which may fetch as much as $4 billion, three of the people said, asking not to be identified because negotiations are private. Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy a minority stake, while three U.S. private-equity firms -- Hellman & Friedman, Silver Lake Management and Thoma Bravo -- are also in the running, the people said."

Yet another group, this time composed of German car makers Audi AG, BMW AG and Daimler AG, is also interested in purchasing HERE maps. Other companies that Nokia has been rumored to have approached include Apple, Facebook and Alibaba. Bloomberg says that the final bids for the division are due in two weeks.

My Ford F-150 needs map update just about every year for $150, that i can buy directly from Here map. Here map DATA, used by MANY companies. it will be GREAT for MS to buy it and profit from it, from Cars, Phns, Tablets,..........devices.

HERE Drive+ used to work great on my Lumia 920, but since about mid-March, the lag is awful. Has Nokia already orphaned HERE?

As for Bing Maps working as well or better? NOT when it comes to navigation. I just came back from a 2,600-mile trip. I didn't need nav for the long-distance drives, but for getting around San Francisco and Portland, definitely. HERE Drive+ was lagging terribly, not keeping up with my location or giving me directions in a timely manner. I switched navigation to Bing and all I got were distance instructions (text, not voice) e.g., turn right in 340 ft. It didn't even give me street names! WTF?

Nonetheless, I think Microsoft needs to grab a handful out of their cash reserves and buy HERE to assure a viable source of data and prevent being held hostage by a competitor/data owner. As for management of the mapping division? I'm sure there are workflows and processes in place, so they don't have to reinvent that wheel.

Beyond mobile uses, the Bing mapping data is also used in Excel for PowerMap, one of Microsoft's BI tools. There are a lot of ways that Microsoft could make the map division profitable while still providing free maps and data to consumers.

BTW, does anyone else remember the terra.microsoft project from Microsoft research? They had a server farm with exabytes of storage that served up satellite views of almost anywhere on earth. That was back in the late 90s, before Google became the Dogpile of the new millenium.

I personally think its a mixture between yelp and here maps. Microsoft need this map! They need it! Why? Well for there mobile platform, as I cant see google or apple porting their maps overs to the platform anytime soon, nor can I see anyone buying a windows 10 phone without a decent map that you can use.

The thing is, of Microsoft bought HERE in it's entirety, they'd be stuck with a map company that they'd have to then manage and it would continue to cost them quite an amount annually to update and maintain said map data. They would have to keep selling out to others to cover the costs and it just wouldn't be worth it in the long run - especially since they'd still need to get data for areas not covered by HERE at the moment. Much easier to just license the maps and leave the hassle to whoever.

I used to love Here+, but since I upgraded from a 820 (where it worked pretty flawlessly) to a 925, now it's virtually useless. It takes ages to pick GPS signal, and even when it does, it often looses it. Now, I thought it was a hardware issue, but Waze works fine. Why? Oh. Why.

This is what Ballmer wanted but some idiots voted no. and now Microsoft wants it? wow... well it says "part of" which makes me think if this is a good deal and how much they would end up paying if this is true.

But then.. I don't really use maps so I don't care much about it. I only hope the deal goes on favor of Windows ecosystem.

It seems to me, If they are going to sell 'HERE' it should go to a consortium of companies that Are likely to keep it free useable mapping. Lets not forget the essence of how free navigation started on our phones ! I think the only group at the moment that is likely to do this is the German car group which should be backed by Microsoft of having a minority stake. So we really think companies like Apple, Facebook etc are going to continue to make it a free service to Microsoft users and without wanting us to 'Like' it every time they change something ?

Apple vs. Microsoft what everyone is missing... Apple bought a small company that specializes in one area to make their maps more accurate when it comes to location, plain & simple nothing more than a more accurate GPS location & it's not integrated into their maps yet so if people claim it seems faster or better it's because their an idiot... Microsoft's deal is much different because if they lose money on the deal it doesn't matter because what they are buying is the data & users information to better push services tailored to different people. Why do you think they overpaid for Skype which was basically to many a stupid idea at the time, but Microsoft wasn't buying it to have a service they knew wasn't going to be profit generator, they bought it for the user's data that Skype had. Most companies that are profitable will burn money on something that they know won't generate huge revenue or even take a loss on revenue because in the end. The only thing they really want is the all important user data which is where the real investment is. So don't try to compare Apple's deal vs. Microsoft's deal because they are 2 completely different investments

This make real sense... Because.. NOKIA is done with WP.. So they are gonna make Android devices.. And android has Google Map support.. And they don't need Another mapping solution..so It's better for them to sell it and cash that money for upcoming Android Phones ;)

Dream on they are not entering the phone market anytime soon. Nokia came out stating that exactly just a couple of weeks ago. Currently, the market for Android is a race to the bottom. It is growing but on the low end. The days of high profits for certain Android focused companies, like Samsung, are dwindling or ROI is not what it should be. Nokia is smart and wants to make money and doing so means expanding their networking and telecommunications hardware divisions. Just look at their recent purchases to see where they are headed. Building a phone would require them to farm out everything and just slap their name on it.

Here Map(AKA, Navteq), is a mapping data used in GPS car system from Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Nissan, GM, Toyota, VW, Chrysler,..............and so many more to list here. Also, Garmin potable Nav devices uses Here Map date as well, along with many other brands. Every years i have to update my Ford Maps gps system for about $150(i can go a year or two, without updating though), but if you want updated map for you car, you must buy it from Here map.

This will be good for MS, if they buy it, and use it to access millions of cars, phns, tablets,............devices.

MS needs to lay off a bunch of these FYIFV types and get some hungrier employees and some nice IP buy doing some shopping... HERE maps might be a nice start... Seems MS does fewer acquisitions than many tech companies in spite of being much bigger than most.

Just because someone else gets HERE doesn't mean they won't license it out for other companies to use...everyone seems to think that if MS doesn't buy HERE then Bing maps won't exist, and that just isn't the case

that will NOT be a good thing. Evil CrApple will use it to control everyone, and force people to update their maps, for a ridiculous price like their iJUNK and MacCrap devices. NOT a good thing at all.

Also, Here map data(AKA, Navteq), used in just about every car with Navigation System in it( Ford, Mercedes, BMW, GM, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, VW, Hyundai,....................). Also used by Garmin, and other potable GPS devices. MS should buy it imo. it will have lots of potential with Bing and Win10.

Not to forget that sometimes you have to take a loss to make a profit in the future. One might regret selling valuable parts of a company when they have to rebuild everything from the ground up later on.

Well they bought it for 8 billion. Assuming they won't get that much from a sale now they will at best break even but as that division was never a high earner for them I'm guessing overall it will be a loss for them.

every car navigation system on the road uses "Here Map"(AKA "Navteq"). MS could do A LOT with that. Maybe use Bing with it somehow............ My ford F150 Nav system, has to get a map update every years, that cost $150. now add that by millions, used by BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, VW, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, GM, Chrysler...............and soooooo many more, all use Here Map in their GPS system. Not to mention it is used on Phones as well, as an app. Like my Lumia 1520. I think it is better than any GPS map out there.

in addition, Garman uses Here map(again Navteq maps)as well, in their GPS devices, along with other potable GPS system offered by other companies. Do see why MS should buy it now?

Microsoft just needs access to the data, which they have. Actually, they need multiple data sources to access. They do not need the extra requirement to continously create and update that data. I would think Microsoft would avoid such a buyout. A minority stake allows for influence with a minimal investment.